Wow! Many factors to consider. Some states with no or low income tax do have other taxes that can hit you. However, many cruisers choose Florida for its lack of income tax, moderate sales and use tax (6% in general), lower cost of living, great boating facilities of all types and prices, and best access to favorite cruising grounds in the Bahamas and the Caribbean. Many long-timers use St. Brendan's Isle mailing service as their "home" address, and they get their licenses, registrations, etc. through Green Cove Springs using that address. In general, because Florida is home to so many folks from other places, the bureaucracy is set up to accommodate you. Some states, like New York, do not look kindly on folks trying to leave their taxing regime, so you have to deliberately move your domicile and residency by doing things like cancelling all bank accounts in your home state, filling out a declaration of residency, moving your driver's license and car registration, and then proving that you are actually spending time there. For many of us, it is more convenient to keep all these things going wherever our former residency was. A trusted relative can help handle your banking and maybe act as your "home" address. If your income is low, you probably won't have to worry much about income tax whatever state you are in. On the other hand, some states, like South Carolina, tend to have a high property tax on boats, so that could be a consideration, while other states demand a use tax from you if you keep the boat there for more than 60 or 90 days (Maryland). One thing I highly recommend if you are leaving the USA is to arrange your affairs so that everything looks just like an ordinary person who doesn't live aboard a boat, in order to slip through worldwide bureacracy with the least hassle. This includes having your addresses match on everything, and having an ordinary sounding street address. Have a photo driver's license somewhere that matches your other ID, and figure out what it takes to renew it if you are far from home. Plan it so that you can live without regular mail delivery. 99% of important bills etc. can be handled online, but certain things like the USCG documentation still come in the mail once a year and must be dealt with. My annual life insurance can only be paid by check via the mail, for example. So wherever your address is, make sure someone is there who can handle important stuff. I have also found it very useful to have someone there who can actually walk into my bank and straighten out problems when they occur--online banking is great 99% of the time, but once in awhile something comes up that is much easier to solve if someone is a co-signer on your account. It is also highly desirable to have your "home" be located somewhere you can return to on your boat, or at least reasonably close for those times when you have to show up at the motor vehicle bureau because they are insisting you must take the eye exam and get your photo taken for the new license. This isn't critical and a lot of people find ways around these things, but even RVers seem to pick places they wouldn't mind actually driving to once in awhile when the only way to sort things out is face to face. Otherwise, you might want to consider some of the states the RVers use as "homeports," like South Dakota. I could go on and on.
